Nut-lock.



no. 727,019. PATENTED MAY 5, 1903-. M. STEWART.

' NUT LOOK. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 15, 1903.

H0 KODEL.

w M2, V /fl/ 9 M WEE m5 Patented May 5, 1903.

' FFICE.

PAENT MACK STEWART, OF NEW CAMBRIA, MISSOURI.

N U T--LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 727,019, dated. May 5, 1903.

Application filed January 15, 1903. Serial No. 139,219. (No model.)

T0 on whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MACK STEWART, a citizen of the United States,residing at New Gambria, in the county of Macon and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Nut- Lock, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices employed for the purpose of locking nuts on bolts, more particularly the nuts of railway-rail joints,and has for its object the production of a simply constructed and operated device which may be applied to any of the ordinary forms-of railway-rail joints employing what are generally known as fish-plates and the invention consists in certain novel features of the construction, as hereinafter shown and described, and specified in the claims.

In the drawings illustrative of the invention, in which corresponding parts are denoted by like designating characters, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a railway-rail'joint with the improvement applied. Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line 2 2 of Fig; 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the lockingplate from the rear side. Fig. 4 is a sectional detail illustrating the manner of connecting the holding-pawl therein. Fig. 5 is a sectional detail illustrating a modification in the construction ofthe locking-plate.

The improvedv device may be attached to any of the ordinary fish plate or clamp-plate rail-joints employing spaced transverse bolts, and for the purpose of illustration a conventional joint of this character is shown, the

abutting rail ends being represented at 1011,

the clamp or fish plate at 12 13, the transverse clamp-bolts at 14, and the nuts at 15. Arranged upon the nut side of the joint is a longitudinal locking-plate 16, having spaced recesses 17 corresponding to the nuts 15 and adapted to fit over the nuts, and thus effectually prevent them from turning backward upon the bolts. To hold thelock-plate in position, a bolt will be passed through the parts and likewise through the lock-plate and provided witha nut in advance of the plate, and preferably one of the clamp-bolts 14 will be utilized for this purpose and extended longitudinally to secure the requisite length and provided with a suitable nut 18, as shown. The nut 18 will be provided with spaced peripheral ratchet-teeth 19, preferably undercut and adapted to be engaged by a pawl 20, loosely mounted in and extending through an opening in the plate 16 from the rear side,

turning backward upon the bolt by the engagement of the gravity-actuated pawl upon the ratchet-teeth, and by providing a plurality-of the teeth any degree of tension maybe secured. The teeth 19, as before stated, are undercut, as shown, so that the pawl will be retained in engagement therewith and prevented from accidental displacement.

This makes a very simple and secure means for holding the spaced clamp-nuts in position and likewise firmly locks the holding-nut and will be found very efficient for the purpose designed.

While the device is intended more particularl y for use in connection with railway-rail joints, the device may be employed for holding nuts in any structure having spaced nuts at sufficiently close intervals to be engaged by the'recessed locking-plate.

The recesses 17 in the locking-plate 16 may be formed partially through the plate, as in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, or entirely through the plate, as in Fig. 5, the nut projecting partially through the plate; but this modifica tion would not be a departure from the principle of the invention, and either form may be employed, as circumstances may require.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A railway-railjoint consisting of a clampplate engaging thesideof the "rail ends and connected thereto by transverse spaced clamp-bolts having nutsinadvance of said clamp-plate, a locking-plate having spaced recesses corresponding to and engaging said nuts and operating to prevent them from turning, and a bolt connecting said lockingplate in position relative to said clamp-plate by a nut provided with peripheral ratchetteeth and a pawl operatively engaging said ratchet-teeth, substantially as described.

2. In a railway-rail joint, the combination of the adjacent rail ends, clamp-plates embracing the opposite sides of the rail ends, transverse bolts spaced apart and connecting said clamp-plates to the rail ends, a locking plate having spaced cavities engaging the nuts of said bolts, a transverse clamp-bolt connecting said rail ends, clamp-plates and lock-plate, a nut upon said clamp-bolt having transverse ratchet-teeth, and a pawl carried by said lock-plate and adapted to engage said ratchet-teeth, substantially as described.

3. In a railway-rail joint, the combination of the adjacent rail ends, clamp-plates embracing the opposite sides of the rail ends, transverse bolts spaced apart and connecting his MACK STEWART.

mark Witnesses:

J. N. BUNDREN, WM. G. DARLING. 

